10 basic first aid skills

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The article is devoted to basic first aid skills. You will learn what to do in case of bleeding, fractures, poisoning, frostbite and other emergencies.

First aid is a set of urgent measures aimed at saving a person's life. An accident, a sharp attack of illness, poisoning - in these and other emergencies, competent first aid is needed.

According to the law, first aid is not medical - it is provided before the arrival of doctors or the delivery of the victim to the hospital. First aid can be provided by any person who is at a critical moment next to the victim. For some categories of citizens, first aid is an official duty. We are talking about police officers, traffic police and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, military personnel, firefighters.

The ability to provide first aid is an elementary but very important skill. In an emergency, he can save someone's life. Introducing 10 Basic First Aid Skills.

First aid algorithm

In order not to get confused and competently provide first aid, it is important to observe the following sequence of actions:

1. Make sure that you are not in danger when giving first aid and that you do not put yourself in danger.
2. Ensure the safety of the victim and others (for example, remove the victim from a burning car).
3. Check the victim for signs of life (pulse, breathing, pupil response to light) and consciousness. To check breathing, it is necessary to tilt the victim's head back, bend over to his mouth and nose and try to hear or feel breathing. To detect the pulse, it is necessary to put the fingertips on the victim's carotid artery. To assess consciousness, it is necessary (if possible) to take the victim by the shoulders, gently shake and ask a question.
4. Call specialists: 112 - from a mobile phone, from a city phone - 03 (ambulance) or 01 (rescuers).

5. Provide emergency first aid. Depending on the situation, this may be:

   • restoration of airway patency;
   • cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
   • stopping bleeding and other activities.
6. Provide the victim with physical and psychological comfort, wait for the arrival of specialists.

Signs of life: breathing

Signs of Life: Pulse

Signs of life: pupil response to light

Artificial respiration

Artificial lung ventilation (ALV) is the introduction of air (or oxygen) into the respiratory tract of a person in order to restore natural ventilation of the lungs. Refers to elementary resuscitation measures.

Typical situations requiring mechanical ventilation:

• car accident;
• water accident;
• electric shock and others.

There are various types of ventilation. Mouth-to-mouth and mouth-to-nose artificial respiration is considered the most effective non-specialist in first aid.

If, upon examination of the victim, natural breathing is not detected, artificial ventilation of the lungs must be carried out immediately.

Mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration technique

1. Keep the upper airway clear. Turn the victim's head to one side and use your finger to remove mucus, blood, and foreign objects from the mouth. Check the victim's nasal passages and clean them if necessary.

2. Tilt the victim's head back while holding the neck with one hand.

   Do not change the position of the victim's head in the event of a spinal injury!

3. Place a tissue, handkerchief, cloth, or gauze over the victim's mouth to protect yourself from infections. Pinch the victim's nose with your thumb and forefinger. Take a deep breath, press your lips tightly to the victim's mouth. Exhale into the victim's lungs.

   The first 5-10 exhalations should be quick (in 20-30 seconds), then 12-15 exhalations per minute.

4. Watch the movement of the victim's chest. If the victim's chest rises when breathing in air, then you are doing everything right.

Clear your upper airways

Throw the victim's head back

Give artificial respiration

Indirect cardiac massage

If there is no pulse along with breathing, it is necessary to do an indirect heart massage.

Indirect (closed) heart massage, or chest compression, is the compression of the muscles of the heart between the sternum and the spine in order to maintain a person's circulation during cardiac arrest. Refers to elementary resuscitation measures.

Attention! You can not perform a closed heart massage in the presence of a pulse.

Technique of indirect heart massage

1. Place the victim on a flat, hard surface. Chest compression should not be performed on a bed or other soft surfaces.
2. Determine the location of the affected xiphoid process. The xiphoid process is the shortest and narrowest part of the sternum, its end.
3. Measure 2-4 cm up from the xiphoid process - this is the point of compression.
4. Place the base of your palm on the compression point. In this case, the thumb should point either to the chin or to the abdomen of the victim, depending on the location of the person performing the resuscitation. Place the other palm on top of one hand, fold your fingers into the lock. Pressing is carried out strictly with the base of the palm - your fingers should not come into contact with the victim's sternum.

5. Perform rhythmic thrusts of the chest strongly, smoothly, strictly upright, with the weight of the upper half of your body. The frequency is 100-110 pressures per minute. In this case, the chest should bend by 3-4 cm.

   For infants, an indirect heart massage is performed with the index and middle fingers of one hand. For teenagers - with the palm of one hand.

If mechanical ventilation is performed simultaneously with a closed heart massage, every two breaths should alternate with 30 pressure on the chest.

Xiphoid process

Find the xiphoid process

Place your palm on the compression point

Hand position

Perform rhythmic chest thrusts

Indirect heart massage for babies, teenagers, adults

If, during resuscitation, the victim regains breathing or a pulse appears, stop providing first aid and lay the person on their side with a palm under their head. Monitor his condition until the arrival of doctors.

Heimlich's reception

When food or foreign bodies get into the trachea, it clogs up (in whole or in part) - the person suffocates.

Signs of a blocked airway:

• Lack of proper breathing. If the windpipe is not completely blocked, the person coughs; if completely - holds on to the throat.
• Inability to speak.
• Blue skin of the face, swelling of the vessels of the neck.

Airway clearance is most often carried out according to the Heimlich method.

1. Stand behind the victim.
2. Grasp it with your hands, interlocking them in a lock, just above the navel, under the costal arch.

3. Press firmly on the victim's abdomen, sharply bending the arms at the elbows.

   Do not squeeze the victim's chest, except for pregnant women who are pressured in the lower chest.

4. Repeat the reception several times until the airways are free.

If the victim fainted and fell, lay him on his back, sit on his hips and press on the costal arches with both hands.

To remove foreign bodies from the airways of the child, it is necessary to turn him on his stomach and pat 2-3 times between the shoulder blades. Be very careful. Even if your toddler clears his throat quickly, see your doctor for a physical examination.

Grasp the victim from behind under the costal arch

Press firmly on the victim's abdomen

If the person is unconscious, sit on his hips and press on the costal arches with both hands.

Bleeding

Stopping bleeding is a measure to stop blood loss. When providing first aid, we are talking about stopping external bleeding. Depending on the type of vessel, capillary, venous and arterial bleeding is isolated.

Stopping capillary bleeding is carried out by applying an aseptic bandage, and also, if the arms or legs are injured, by raising the limbs above the level of the body.

For venous bleeding, a pressure bandage is applied. For this, wound tamponade is performed: gauze is applied to the wound, several layers of cotton wool are placed on top of it (if there is no cotton, a clean towel), bandaged tightly. The veins squeezed by such a bandage quickly thrombose, and the bleeding stops. If the pressure bandage gets wet, apply firm pressure with the palm of your hand.

To stop arterial bleeding, the artery must be clamped.

Artery clamping technique: Press the artery firmly with your fingers or fist against the underlying bone formation.

The arteries are easily accessible for palpation, so this method is very effective. However, it requires physical strength from the first aid provider.

If the bleeding has not stopped after applying a tight bandage and pressing the artery, apply a tourniquet. Remember that this is a last resort when other methods do not help.

Hemostatic tourniquet technique

1. Place a tourniquet on clothing or padding just above the wound.
2. Tighten the tourniquet and check the pulsation of the vessels: the bleeding should stop, and the skin below the tourniquet should turn pale.
3. Bandage the wound.
4. Record the exact time when the tourniquet was applied.

The tourniquet can be applied to the limbs for a maximum of 1 hour. After its expiration, the tourniquet must be loosened for 10-15 minutes. It can be tightened again if necessary, but not more than 20 minutes.

Apply a tourniquet through clothing or padding above or as close to the wound as possible, above the knee or elbow

Place the tourniquet under the limb and stretch, tighten the first round of the tourniquet and check that the bleeding has stopped

Apply subsequent turns of the bundle with less effort in an ascending spiral, capturing the previous turn by about half. Cover the wound. Attach a note under the harness indicating the date and time of the application.

Fractures

Fracture is a violation of the integrity of the bone. The fracture is accompanied by severe pain, sometimes fainting or shock, bleeding. There are open and closed fractures. The first is accompanied by injury to soft tissues; bone fragments are sometimes noticeable in the wound.

Fracture First Aid Technique

1. Assess the severity of the victim's condition, determine the location of the fracture.
2. Stop bleeding if bleeding occurs.

3. Determine if the victim can be relocated before specialists arrive.

   Do not carry the victim and do not change his position in case of spinal injuries!

4. Provide immobility of the bone in the area of the fracture - immobilize. To do this, it is necessary to immobilize the joints located above and below the fracture.
5. Apply a splint. As a tire, you can use flat sticks, boards, rulers, rods, etc. The splint must be tightly, but not tightly fixed with bandages or plaster.

With a closed fracture, immobilization is performed over clothing. With an open fracture, do not apply a splint to places where the bone protrudes outward.

Forearm splint

Shin splint

Splint for hip fracture

Burns

A burn is damage to body tissues caused by high temperatures or chemicals. Burns vary in degree as well as in type of injury. On the last basis, burns are distinguished:

• thermal (flame, hot liquid, steam, incandescent objects);
• chemical (alkalis, acids);
• electrical;
• beam (light and ionizing radiation);
• combined.

In case of burns, the first step is to eliminate the effect of the damaging factor (fire, electric current, boiling water, and so on).

Then, in case of thermal burns, the affected area should be freed from clothing (gently, not tearing off, but cutting off the adhered tissue around the wound) and irrigate it with a water-alcohol solution (1/1) or vodka for disinfection and anesthesia.

Do not use oily ointments or greasy creams - fats and oils do not relieve pain, disinfect a burn, or promote healing.

Then irrigate the wound with cold water, apply a sterile bandage and apply cold. Also, give the victim warm salted water.

Use dexpanthenol sprays to speed up the healing of minor burns. If the burn covers more than one hand, be sure to see a doctor.

Fainting

Fainting is a sudden loss of consciousness caused by a temporary disruption of cerebral blood flow. In other words, it is a signal from the brain that it lacks oxygen.

It is important to distinguish between normal and epileptic syncope. The first is usually preceded by nausea and dizziness.

A light-headed state is characterized by the fact that a person rolls his eyes, becomes covered with cold sweat, his pulse weakens, his limbs grow cold.

Typical situations of onset of fainting:

• fright,
• excitement,
• stuffiness and others.

If the person faints, give him a comfortable horizontal position and provide fresh air (unbutton clothing, loosen belt, open windows and doors). Sprinkle cold water on the victim's face, pat him on the cheeks. If you have a first-aid kit on hand, sniff a cotton swab soaked in ammonia.

If consciousness does not return for 3-5 minutes, call an ambulance immediately.

When the victim recovers, give him strong tea or coffee.

Drowning and sunstroke

Drowning is the penetration of water into the lungs and respiratory tract, which can lead to death.

First aid for drowning

1. Remove the victim from the water.

   A drowning person grabs onto anything that comes to hand. Be careful: swim up to him from behind, hold his hair or armpits, keeping your face above the surface of the water.

2. Place the victim with his stomach on his knee with the head down.
3. Cleanse the oral cavity from foreign bodies (mucus, vomit, algae).
4. Check for signs of life.
5. If there is no pulse or breathing, immediately begin mechanical ventilation and chest compressions.
6. Once breathing and cardiac activity have been restored, lay the victim on one side, cover him up and provide comfort until the arrival of the medics.

Remove the victim from the water

Conduct resuscitation measures

Lay the victim on his side, wait for specialists

In summer, sunstroke is also dangerous. Sunstroke is a brain disorder caused by prolonged exposure to the sun.

Symptoms:

• headache,
• weakness,
• noise in ears,
• nausea,
• vomit.

If the victim is still exposed to the sun, his temperature rises, shortness of breath appears, and sometimes he even faints.

Therefore, when providing first aid, first of all, it is necessary to transfer the victim to a cool, ventilated place. Then free him from clothes, loosen the belt, undo. Place a cold, wet towel over his head and neck. Let the ammonia smell. Give artificial respiration if necessary.

In case of sunstroke, the victim must be given plenty of cool, slightly salted water (drink often, but in small sips).

Move the victim into the shade

Free him from his clothes

Make cooling compresses

Hypothermia and frostbite

Hypothermia (hypothermia) is a decrease in a person's body temperature below the norm necessary to maintain a normal metabolism.

First aid for hypothermia

1. Lead (carry) the victim into a warm room or wrap up with warm clothes.
2. Do not rub the victim, let the body gradually warm up on its own.
3. Give the victim warm drink and food.

Don't use alcohol!

Bring the victim into a warm place

Keep it warm

Give the victim a hot drink

Hypothermia is often accompanied by frostbite, that is, damage and necrosis of body tissues under the influence of low temperatures. Frostbite is especially common in the fingers and toes, nose and ears - parts of the body with reduced blood supply.

Frostbite causes - high humidity, frost, wind, motionless position. The condition of the victim is aggravated, as a rule, by alcohol intoxication.

Symptoms:

• feeling cold;
• tingling sensation in the part of the body to be frozen;
• then - numbness and loss of sensitivity.

First aid for frostbite

1. Place the victim in a warm place.
2. Remove frozen or wet clothing from it.
3. Do not rub the injured person with snow or a cloth - this will only injure the skin.
4. Wrap the frostbitten part of the body.
5. Give the victim a hot sweet drink or hot food.

Place the victim in a warm place

Take off his frozen clothes

Wrap up the frostbitten part of the body

Poisoning

Poisoning is a disorder of the body's vital functions, which has arisen due to the ingress of poison or toxin into it. Depending on the type of toxin, poisoning is distinguished:

• carbon monoxide
• pesticides,
• alcohol,
• medicines,
• food and others.

First aid measures depend on the nature of the poisoning. The most common food poisoning is nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain. In this case, the victim is advised to take 3-5 grams of activated carbon every 15 minutes for an hour, drink plenty of water, refrain from eating, and be sure to consult a doctor.

In addition, accidental or deliberate drug poisoning and alcohol intoxication are common.

In these cases, first aid consists of the following steps:

1. Flush the affected stomach. To do this, make him drink a few glasses of salted water (for 1 liter - 10 g of salt and 5 g of soda). After 2-3 glasses, induce the victim to vomit. Repeat these steps until the vomit is "clear".

   Gastric lavage is possible only if the victim is conscious.

2. Dissolve 10–20 tablets of activated charcoal in a glass of water, let the victim drink it.
3. Wait for the arrival of specialists.